Flickr: On Art and Film

We had Monday off, and Amy had a $5 off admission coupon, so we headed to the Art Institute. I hadn't been there in years (at least six because I went before I knew Amy), so I was stoked to finally see the modern wing. I enjoyed it - it's not as deep as say MoMA, or as experimental as the MCA, but they had a good variety, and the building is quite incredible. I will complain the wood floors can be quite loud for anyone not wearing sneakers. They had several pieces by a couple of my favorite artists.

As a painter, Fernand Leger is usually thrown into the Cubist movement - pretty evident as you can see by his paining The Railway Crossing (1919) on the right. I am hot and cold on cubism - depending on the artist I can take it or leave it. But my real love for Leger can be summed up in two words: Ballet Mechanique. Anyone who has taken a history of film class has probably seen it. Made in 1924, it is a silent experimental short of well - a mechanical ballet. Besides who couldn't love a film that includes Kiki de Montparnasse.



They also had Marcel Duchamp's Hat Rack (left). I know some people have issues with the concept of readymades, but I think they're genius. Several friends and I traveled to Cincinnati last spring the see the only American gallery showing of "Surrealism and Beyond." They had a lot of great pieces there including Duchamp's Fountain and L.H.O.O.Q - I can now die happy. They understandably didn't allow photos in the exhibit, but my friend did sneak a blurry picture of Fountain. My other favorite work of Duchamp is his film Anemic Cinema (1926). It includes one of my favorite quotes of all time - "Parmi nos articles de quinquillerie par essence, nous recommandans le robinet qui s'arrête de couloir quand on ne l'ecoute pas" (Among our articles of lazy hardware, we recommend a faucet which stops dripping when nobody is listening to it).




Lastly, I must explain the meaning of the photo to the left. That's me with Van Gogh's Bedroom In Arles. Being a film major, I was required to take four semesters of art history. I didn't mind as I actually enjoy art - except for impressionists - how many fucking haystacks can you paint Monet? I will date myself and say that most classes consisted of the lights being turned off and viewing the artworks via slides. It doesn't take much for me to fall asleep - honestly I fell asleep several times in band in high school and I was in the percussion section. So most classes were a struggle to stay awake even though I was interested in the subject matter. One particular class we were discussing Van Gogh and this painting. Being half asleep, I scribbled in my notes the painting's title as "Bedroom at Oral." Logic dictates that this is wrong, but for some reason, I thought that was the name of the painting. Several weeks later I was discussing the possible paintings that may be on the final exam with my friend via phone. The conversation went something like this:

"Well how about Van Gogh? Do you think Bedroom at Oral will be on the exam"

"What?"

"Bedroom at Oral - you know, the Van Gogh painting?"

*silence*

"That's Bedroom at Arles you idiot!"

Yeah, it's been over ten years and I still haven't lived that down.